Ecclesiastes

7 Better a name than precious ointment,—And the day of death, than the day of one’s birth.

2 Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men,—And the living should take it to his heart.

3 Better is grief than laughter,—For by the marring of the face amended is the heart.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of dullards in the house of mirth.

5 Better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for any man to hear the song of dullards.

6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is the laughter of the dullard,—Even this then was vanity.

7 For oppression maddeneth the wise,—And a bribe destroyeth the understanding.

8 Better the latter end of a thing than the beginning thereof,—Better a patient spirit than a haughty spirit.

9 Do not be rash in thy spirit to be indignant,—For indignation in the bosom of dullards doth remain.

10 Do not say, What hath happened, that the former days were better than these? For not wisely askest thou concerning this.

11 Good is wisdom with an inheritance,—and a profit to such as see the sun.

12 For a protection is wisdom and a protection is silver,—but the advantage of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to the possessors thereof.

13 Consider the work of God,—for who can straighten what he hath bent?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of misfortune consider,—Even the one equally with the other hath God made, to the end man might find out—after him—nothing.

15 Everything had I seen in my days of vanity,—Here was a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, And there was a lawless man continuing long in his wickedness.

16 Do not become so very righteous, neither count thyself wise beyond measure,—wherefore shouldst thou destroy thyself?

17 Do not be so very lawless neither become thou foolish,—wherefore shouldst thou die before thy time?

18 It is well that thou shouldst lay fast hold of this, but even from the other do not withdraw thy hand,—for he that revereth God shall come forth out of them all.

19 Wisdom bringeth more strength to a wise man, than ten heroes that are in the city.

20 For as for men there is none righteous in the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.

21 Moreover not to all the words which men speak do thou apply thy heart,—lest thou hear thine own servant reviling thee!

22 For truly many times thy heart knoweth,—that even thou thyself hast reviled others.

23 All this have I proved by wisdom,—I said, I will be wise, but that was far from me.

24 Far away is that which hath been,—and deep, deep, who can find it out?

25 Resolved I in my heart to know and search out, and to seek wisdom and a conclusion,—and to know lawlessness [to be] stupidity, and folly to be madness.

26 I could indeed find to be more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands bonds,—whoso is pleasing before God shall escape from her, but he that sinneth shall be captured by her.

27 See! this have I found, saith the Proclaimer [counting] one by one to find a conclusion;

28 what my soul still sought yet I found not,—one man out of a thousand have I found, but a woman among all these have I not found.

29 Only see this have I found, That God made man upright,—But they have sought out many devices.